Chapter 7

The next match was about to start when the juvenile dragon called out, "Nimbra and Sapphire!" As their names echoed through the arena, I took a closer look at the fighters.

Nimbra was an impressive sight—her blue scales gleamed brilliantly under the sunlight. She was larger than the average blue dragon at her age, standing at 255 centimeters, a full 15 centimeters larger than normal for her five-and-a-half years. And she still had another six months before her first deep sleep, which meant she would likely grow another four centimeters before then. Her size and power were clearly formidable.

Her opponent, Sapphire, was a more typical four-and-a-half-year-old blue dragon, standing at 232 centimeters. Though smaller than Nimbra, Sapphire was known for her agility and cunning in battle, traits that had served her well in the past.

The juvenile dragon stepped back, announcing, "Let the match begin!"

With that, the match started. Nimbra wasted no time, casting a Tier 2 ground spell to weaken and loosen the sand beneath Sapphire. In response, Sapphire fired a Tier 1 lightning spell and quickly took to the air. Nimbra deftly dodged the spell and retaliated with a more powerful Tier 3 lightning spell, then followed Sapphire into the sky.

Nimbra's spell struck Sapphire's wing, causing her to falter in mid-air. Sensing an opportunity, Nimbra swooped upward, slashing at Sapphire’s vulnerable underbelly with her claws. Sapphire tried to counter by unleashing her breath attack, but Nimbra anticipated this and fired her own breath directly into Sapphire's open maw, forcing her to choke.

Nimbra then quickly cast a Tier 4 spell, which immobilized both of Sapphire's wings, causing her to plummet hard to the ground. In one swift move, Nimbra descended and clamped her powerful jaws around Sapphire’s throat, growling, "Submit."

Sapphire struggled weakly for a moment before gasping out, "I-I submit."

With that, Nimbra released her grip, and the juvenile dragon declared, "Nimbra is the winner!"

The crowd of young dragons erupted into roars of approval as both Sapphire and Nimbra returned to their resting spots. I overheard a group of male wyrmlings near me saying, "I'm going to claim her as my mate one day."

"No, I will," another replied.

"Not if I get there first!" a third chimed in.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Blue and green dragons were unlike reds, blacks, and whites, who mated with any dragon of the same color. Blues and greens typically mated for life with a single dragon. While they didn’t always live together like silver and gold dragons, they shared a bond that usually lasted until one of them died. Of course, there were rare cases where blues or greens did live together, but that was more the exception than the rule.

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As I was thinking about this, my brothers came up to me. Vaelrath smirked and said, "Ooo, brother, looks like you've got some competition for her."

Zarothan added, "Yes, and it seems that includes us as well."

I stammered, "I-I don’t want to be mates with Nimbra!"

Vaelrath laughed. "Yeah, right. We all know you’ve had a major crush on her ever since you first saw her. Even the rock-headed Zalyndre can see it."

Zalyndre, overhearing her name, snapped, "What do I have to do with this?!"

We all ignored her, and I shot Zarothan and Vaelrath a glare, growling, "S-shut up."

They just chuckled and walked off, leaving Zalyndre to complain to Vaelrath about how she was *not* a hot-headed, lazy red dragon. Vaelrath ignored her completely, and I couldn’t help but laugh at their banter.

The tournament continued, with the first round narrowing the competitors down to twelve. The most surprising first match in round two came next—Zalyndre versus Vaelrath.

As they walked into the arena, Vaelrath smirked and called out, "Looks like I’m going to put the hot-headed wannabe red in her place!"

A few chuckles rose from the crowd. Zalyndre, furious, roared back, "I’ll make you eat those words, Vaelrath!"

The match began with Zalyndre charging forward, shooting her breath attack at Vaelrath. He quickly dodged to the right and cast a Tier 1 ground spell, loosening the sand just enough to throw Zalyndre off balance. To my surprise, Zalyndre stumbled and tripped.

I glanced at my brother, Vaelrath, who wore a smug expression. "He’s learned ground magic already? Only the most gifted wyrmlings can usually manage that!" I thought, feeling proud of him.

Vaelrath tried to end the match quickly by leaping at Zalyndre, channeling his heart’s energy to cast a Tier 4 lightning spear. But Zalyndre, quick to recover, proved her strength by rising to all fours and taking to the air. She countered his spell with her breath attack, the collision sending shockwaves through the arena.

"Just like a red," Zarothan muttered beside me, rolling his eyes. "Always relying on brute strength and breath attacks, no spells."

I had to agree. Zalyndre wasn’t one for complex strategies—she charged in and used her natural abilities to overpower her opponents.

Vaelrath, having exhausted his heart's energy on the lightning spear, tried to counter with his own breath weapon. However, without his full strength, his breath was weaker than usual. Zalyndre easily overpowered him, flipping him onto his back with a loud thud. Roaring, she demanded, "Submit!"

Vaelrath, clearly panicked, cried out, "I submit! I submit!"

The juvenile dragon announced, "Zalyndre is the winner!"

Zalyndre released him and proudly strutted off, saying, "Told you I’d make you eat your words."

Vaelrath, disheartened, muttered, "Yeah, yeah. If you weren’t bigger, you would’ve lost."

Zarothan and I walked over to him. "Since when did you learn ground magic and be able to use medium lightning?" I asked.

Zarothan added, "Yes, I’d like to know that too."

Vaelrath sighed. "I’ve been practicing in secret, trying to catch up to you three. I’m physically the weakest, and I always lose when we play-fight. Seeing Azuron so gifted in magic made me feel... inadequate."

I wasn’t sure how to respond, but Zarothan stepped in. "You’re one of the most magically gifted dragons, Vaelrath. You’ve already mastered medium lightning and ground spells. Just because you can’t match Azuron doesn’t mean you’re not strong. He’s a variant dragon—he shouldn’t be your goal."

Vaelrath stared at him, wide-eyed. "I... I didn’t realize that."

Zarothan shrugged. "You’ve always been the emotional one, while I’m the analytical one."

Vaelrath chuckled softly. "Yeah, you’re right."

And with that, we walked off, ready to watch the rest of the tournament.